#before remembering that I don't think that existed in whatever edition was out in the 70s/80s

[dire-kumori]

If the Afton kids played DnD, what characters would they make?

[nightprompts]

&. 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐚 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

(  dialogue  prompts  taken  from  furiosa: a mad max story  (2024),  directed  by  george  miller.  feel  free  to  edit  and  change  as  you  seem  fit.  ) 

❛ as the world falls around us, how must we brave its cruelties? ❜

❛ we should go back now. ❜

❛ i'll come with you. ❜

❛ the stars be with you. ❜

❛ who's coming for us? ❜

❛ who do we have here? ❜

❛ what do they call you? ❜

❛ now, you have had a hard day, haven't you? you must be exhausted. ❜

❛ there's only one thing i need you to do and that is rest. ❜

❛ you don't have to say a word, i promise. ❜

❛ tomorrow, i'll take you home. ❜

❛ keep an eye on her, keep her safe. ❜

❛ you're bleeding. ❜

❛ i'm not gonna leave you. ❜

❛ whatever you have to do, however long it takes, promise me you’ll find your way home. ❜

❛ no, no, no. don’t look away. we mustn’t look away. ❜

❛ why would you run from me? ❜

❛ you’re gonna have to show me who you are. ❜

❛ you don’t have to watch if you don’t want to. ❜

❛ you may wanna close your eyes. ❜

❛ you will rule with me in the splendor of a new wasteland. ❜

❛ i’m afraid for you, sweetheart. really afraid. ❜

❛ witness me! ❜

❛ you’re all fools for coming here. ❜

❛ when things go bonkers, you have to adapt. ❜

❛ she looks nothing like you. ❜

❛ she has her mother’s perfections, and none of my deficiencies. ❜

❛ she’s perfect. not like the genetic absurdities you have for sons. ❜

❛ would you like to stay here in the citadel? ❜

❛ if i let you stay and you grow to become a strong, healthy woman, you could become one of our wives. ❜

❛ no! she’s not for sale, she’s mine. ❜

❛ you behave, i’ll behave. ❜

❛ where have i seen you before? ❜

❛ we're going to build ourselves a war rig. ❜

❛ he done the most runs on the fury road. and brung back the booty every time. ❜

❛ eyes left. they’re flanking us. ❜

❛ you’re going to pull over and get out. ❜

❛ where did you think you were going? ❜

❛ there is nowhere else. this is the wasteland. wherever you thought you were going does not exist. ❜

❛ i lost my convoy. i lost my crew. i’m gonna have to start again. and i’m driving off thinking i ought to start with you. ❜

❛ you may be raw, but you have about you a purposeful savagery. ❜

❛ you give me time, i’ll teach you everything you need to know about road war. ❜

❛ if you survive everything we take on together, you’ll have all the skills you need to get wherever you wanna go. ❜

❛ keep it. you’ll need it. ❜

❛ for you. for your travels. you’re done here. you’re free to go. ❜

❛ food, water, wheels, whatever you need. i'll help you put it together. give me a couple of days. ❜

❛ i want what you want. a full belly... and a fistful of bullets for a tank of gas. ❜

❛ we’re not leaving without our tankers full of gas. ❜

❛ you wanna get out of here, follow me. ❜

❛ let’s kill him. right now. ❜

❛ this place at the end of your map of secrets... where is it? ❜

❛ i wanna help you find this place. wherever it may be. ❜

❛ come with me. ❜

❛ there is no hope! not for them, not for you! certainly not for me! ❜

❛ it’s the price we all pay to survive in the wasteland. we cannot be soft! ❜

❛ stay! you’ll find peace here. ❜

❛ if you find him, he’s mine. ❜

❛ gentlemans, it’s time. time to do war. ❜

❛ here, no time for long goodbyes. we’ve done some mighty things together. goodbye. ❜

❛ you’ve found me. ❜

❛ you could have necked me in the night, but you didn’t. ❜

❛ i have nothing. i am nothing. ❜

❛ remember me? ❜

❛ you crawled out of a pitiless grave, deeper than hell. and only one thing’s gonna do that for you. and not hope. hate. ❜

❛ no shame in hate. it's one of the great forces of nature. ❜

❛ so... this is the day i die. i’ve always wondered how. ❜

❛ my childhood. my mother. i want them back. ❜

❛ i'm right there, i’m right there with you. i too craved nothing but revenge. ❜

❛ if the shooter goes around the back, the shootee won’t know the precise moment of the execution. ❜

❛ what you want, dear, are my cries of anguish. anguish without end. and if i could give you that, i would. ❜

❛ if you can’t do me quick, you’ll have to do me slow. ❜

❛ i’ve been waiting for someone like you, someone worthy of me. ❜

❛ no honor, no rule of law to sort things out. just two evil bastards out here in the wasteland. ❜

❛ you do this, you do this right, you become me. ❜

❛ i am nothing like you. ❜

❛ you are me. already dead. ❜

❛ to feel alive, we seek sensation. any sensation to wash away the cranky black sorrow. ❜

❛ the question is... do you have it in you to make it epic? ❜

[myfairstarlight]

Alright, let's talk about Colin's entrapment line and why Penelope offering an annulment was significant, shall we? Arguably the most controversial part of this season, isn't it?

I'm not going to delve too long on the entrapment line again actually, but to summarise, Colin has been traumatised by a similar situation before, and right now, he's hurt. And the thing about being angry with your best friend is that you know what to say to hurt them the most. We see it in Eloise's and Penelope's fight, as they threw each other's insecurities in the other's faces. Colin, two episodes ago, was defending Penelope against Portia, who was accusing her of entrapping him, so yes, his mind will jump to that first. But also note that the whole time he refuses to look at her, because he knows his words are cutting and will hurt and he knows his resolve would break if he looked at her, which is contrasted by Penelope directly looking at him to tell him she loves him and did not mean for this to happen like this. He does not look because he knows she loves him, this is not Marina's situation exactly who only wanted a way out and did not see him as much else than a means to an end, and that's why it's so much more difficult to deal with for him. Penelope loves him.

And he's already almost lost her once, as angry and hurt as he is, he cannot fathom the idea of letting her go, when he remembers how empty he felt without her letters, or at the idea of her with Debling. So he's still here, determined to marry her.

So now we get to e8. The marriage was not technically consummated, and the Lady Whistledown business is finally settled. So Penelope offers the annulment, to set him, and his family, free from her mess.

They never directly address Colin's entrapment comment again, but with Penelope offering the annulment, it is now implied she's been thinking about this the whole time. It is a very real possibility that by that point, Penelope already knew she was pregnant, and it's been speculated if she told Colin in that scene after Francesca's wedding or not (I personally don't think she did, to not add to his guilt at that moment, and perhaps to not influence his decision, knowing she would be offering the annulment soon) and it parallels Marina's situation again, except in this case, Penelope does not wish to trap Colin with a baby, even if it is his. She knows how much Marina impacted Colin, and does not wish to do the same thing she had prevented Marina to do. The best part about this though? Colin is stunned (Edit: I changed the adjective here as someone rightfully pointed out I was exaggerating by saying "flabbergasted" when his reaction is more on the subtle side the English language is the bane of my existence). Frankly, he probably forgot he even said that, the same way he forgot about his "I would never dream of courting Penelope Featherington" comment - those were words said in the heat of the moment he never actually believed. Not once has Colin thought of either breaking the engagement, or get an annulment even after the betrayal.

He could have still eloped with Marina even after learning the truth, but he didn't because she was not honest with him from the start. He learns Penelope has been living a double life this whole time, and yet he stays.

It is significant that Penelope listened and acknowledged Colin's point of view, the same way she asked him to simply stand by her side and support her. Also note that she never says "our family", she says "you or your family".

Despite already being married, this whole time, it did not feel like they were, and she knew that as long as there was still this barrier between them, she could never truly be part of that family, but it's alright, she could live with that, she has mended things with her own after all, and she can support herself. Whatever the outcome, she'll be alright, she believes.

Fortunately for her, she does not get to find out what that future would entail because Colin absolutely hates the idea of letting her go.

Because after all, she's a mess, but she's his mess.

[anakinskywalkerisfave]

Hello! I want to ask you something about Star Wars. What's your opinion on "love isn't attachment" interpretation of the Jedi Code that has been going around?

I think it’s a misrepresentation born out of an effort to make the Jedi Order seem perfect, instead of the noble but flawed institution that we see in both Disney canon and the Star Wars EU. It is a blatant disregard of both the general canonical and legends continuity that the Jedi Order did not allow love. Love is a type of attachment, at least in the Jedi's eyes, otherwise they would not be separating young children from their families.

And no, if the chosen one is doing just fine with his latent force powers, I don't think they're recuiting toddlers because they would otherwise "have no control" and be "a danger to others." Take that crap somewhere else, because I'm not buying it.

If they don’t care about loving people (ie your birth family), then why do we never see Jedi (aside from obvious exceptions like Anakin or Ki-Adi-Mundi) mention their family or keep in any form of touch with them? Why would they accept only very young children? Notably children whose memories of their time with their family would largely or wholly be lost due to childhood amnesia*, and therefore would not remember their attachment to their families and the love of their family. Regardless of whatever media tries to retcon the no love thing as love being acceptable and that attachment was a different thing, the most important canon (the movies) does not support this at all.

(*Childhood amnesia refers to the inability of most adults to recall memories from before the age of 3-4 years. It also refers to the fragmentation of memories from early childhood, especially from the ages of 3-6. This is paraphrased from the Wikipedia article on the subject.)

Also, if love (platonic or romantic) actually is allowed, then why would this official movie poster for Attack of the Clones exist? (Someone on youtube literally tried to argue with me that despite it being an official poster, it “didn’t mean anything." 🤨 By that logic, a movie advertised as R-rated can be assumed to be appropriate for children. Jedi apologists are truly dedicated to spiting their English teachers and anyone who tried to teach them about critical thinking or analysis.)

Bonus Round: Star Wars EU Edition

(read the paragraph on the right, starting at "Love is also a strong passion," and I also suggest reading the character's annotations on the side.)

They literally explain love is forbidden. While they say "those who obsess," in practice, it applies to any love, not just obsessive. (Also, it is a parent's job to prioritize the needs of their child. It's not "obsession" to put the child first, that's what you're supposed to do.) They are literally being told that wanting to contact their birth families is a cause of concern and that any attachment will cause you to "lose sight of your path" and are a cause for expulsion from the Order.

Once again, they are not allowed to connect with their birth families. The HoloNet calls it monstrous because it is. Separating a child from their parents is incredibly damaging, especially in early childhood*, (the age of recruitment into the Jedi Order) which is obvious, but this is the same fandom where I see people try (and fail) to justify child soldiers and using a slave army.

Sources about the detrimental effects of separating children from their parents:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/psychological-damage-inflicted-by-parent-child-separation-is-deep-long-lasting/

https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2018/06/psychological-impact-early-life-stress-parental-separation

This excert is from a section called "Misperceptions of the Jedi" from The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force.

"This charge springs from the pain of emotional attachment. It's also technically false." If I had my child taken from me and had no way to get them back, I don't give a shit if you have legal authority. You are effectively a kidnapper. The child isn't being removed from their parent's care because of abuse or any other legitimate reason. It's because they want to indoctrinate them and it's far easier when they don't remember anything before being taken to the temple. So they don't have a pesky attachment or concern for their mom left in slavery, for example!

Anyway, Luke's Jedi Order from the EU >>>>>> the old Jedi Order

[gingerteafairy]

𝙣𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙩𝙥 (𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙝𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧)

Rodrick tries to get your attention, even if he had to cosplay of your non canon otp.

tags n warnings: fluff, nerdy!reader, f!reader, death note anime references, cosplay, suggestive, perv!rodrick, shy!reader. word count: 1.5k

Rodrick Heffley sort of hated you. 

Okay, not really. It wasn’t that Rodrick hated you—you weren’t fake or mean, or some weirdo who would make him cringe. You were just... well, weird. He’d totally clocked that you had a crush on him after, like, a minute. It was obvious.

The blushes when he walked by, the borderline embarrassing comments on his Instagram—it was like a neon sign. But you were cute. Annoyingly cute. With your big sunshine smiles, dorky jokes, and all that awkward eye contact whenever you bumped into each other at school. 

He gave you hell about being “weird.” But he liked it. Actually, loved it. This perv already pictured you in dozens of sexual scenarios with imaginary reactions he’d love to see. Like, would you be all shy when he took off his clothes or would you laugh if you got into some creative position? Would your glasses be foggy? He really wanted to see you with nothing but your glasses on.

You were just a girl giggling at his Instagram posts. His story, of course, featured him slumped on a museum bench, arms crossed, staring at some abstract painting like it had personally offended him. The caption? “Modern art is dead. Let me out.”

You knew better than to expect a sweet reply. It was either ghosting or snarky comebacks. Spoiler alert—you got the snarky reply.

But seeing him in person? Still the worst thing ever.

Which is exactly why you froze when you spotted him one afternoon, sitting lazily on the steps of his front porch. He looked perfectly disheveled in his black metal band shirt, one leg stretched out, his back leaned casually against the doorframe. Like a damn indie rock album cover.

Your brain screamed nope, but your feet had already carried you halfway past his house before—

"Hey, dorky.”

Rodrick’s voice broke through your panic like a needle to a balloon. You skidded to a halt, eyes wide. Slowly, you turned, clutching the strap of your bag for dear life.

“Hey…” you squeaked, adjusting your glasses.

Rodrick smirked, pushing off the steps. “You think I’m a ghost or something? You walk past here like I don’t exist.”

Your cheeks burned. “I—uh—I didn’t see you.”

“Totally believable.” Rodrick’s smirk grew. “You said you bought a Misa costume, remember? Wig and everything. And also the whole limited edition of the dolls and stuff.”

You blinked, horrified and excited at the same time.“I—I didn’t think you’d remember that.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He tilted his head, hands shoved in his pockets.

“I don't know…”

“Relax. It’s kinda sick, actually.” His gaze flicked over you like he was sizing you up. “You’d look good as Misa.”

“Really?” you jumped, clapping your hands. “I'll dress up like her everyday and I already bought her necklace.”

“You’re so awkward,” he teased, voice softer. “C’mon. What’s the rush? You’re always running past here like I’m gonna bite. Unless…”

You stared at him, unsure if your heart was about to stop or explode. “Unless…?”

“Unless you would like to get bitten by me.”

Your face turned scarlet. “Why…Why do you…?”

Rodrick rolled his eyes, turning back toward the house. “You’re impossible. I was gonna invite you in, but whatever. Get home safe.”

And with that, he disappeared inside, leaving you standing in the street, cheeks flushed, completely stunned. He just landed on the floor, stomping his head on the wall.

“Shit. I wanna see her in that outfit.” He cried out with his cheeks beet-red.

“She's so cool. Did you know she draws like a pro?" Greg cheered, watching you make your steps to your home, still confused.

“yourusername? She gave me pokemon cards for free in her parents store when I told my mother that I loved pokemon! A limited one. Pew peww.” Rowley exclaimed happily, stepping back when Rodrick stood up with a murderous look. “Uh-oh.”

Then he remembered, stopping him from the possible child murder. Only himself knew the cutie clumsy patootie you were, which made him giggle to the ground, curling his hands on the hem of his shirt.

“Ewww.” Greg hissed, frowning.

“I think your brother likes her.” Rowley smiled, walking to Greg's room, who was totally disgusted by the sight of his brother lifting his toe like a little girl.

The next week, someone invited Rodrick to a costume party. Sure, the music was decent, and someone brought a vintage vinyl player, which kept him from leaving immediately. The worst part is that you didn't come. “Socialization fear, Rod. Not my thing”. By midnight, he was leaning against a wall, phone in hand. Grinning when he saw you post you in your Misa outfit.

yourusername: “Dressing as my queen >o<.”

He wasn’t even sure why he posted a photo of himself dressed as L from Death Note. Maybe out of boredom. Maybe because he hoped you’d see it.

rodrickrockslodediper: justice will prevail.

Cheesy as hell. But effectively, you have seen it in a minute.

“God, you look so perfect.”

The message was simple—too simple for you. No silly emojis, no teasing lines. For some reason, that made him pause. And then, before he could talk himself out of it, he did something impulsive: he called you.

The line clicked after just two rings. “What the—Rodrick?”

He smirked at the sound of your flustered voice. “Didn’t think you’d answer so fast.”

“You called me,” you sputtered, nearly knocking over everything on your desk, your glasses almost broke on the floor. “What’s going on?”

“Party’s boring.” His voice was low and smooth, a little breathless. “Some kid thought I was Steve Jobs.”

You burst out laughing. “Oh my god. That’s so tragic.”

“Yeah, laugh it up, Misa Misa.” He hesitated, voice softening just slightly. “I wish you were here.”

Click.

And just like that, his status went offline before you even had time to reply. He stuffed his phone into his pocket, walking away from the party like he’d just dropped a bomb, not even bothering to say goodbye to anyone.

"What the heck was that?!" you exclaimed, staring at your phone like it had grown a second head. Rodrick Heffley called to say he wanted you to be with him? That couldn’t be real.

And yet, the disbelief hit even harder when your doorbell rang. You opened the door, and there he was—smudged eyeliner and messy dark shadow to fake L’s signature tired look. Meanwhile, you were fully dressed as Misa Amane. What even was this situation?

"Good thing I made it before you ditched the cosplay," he said with a lopsided grin, still catching his breath. He had run to your house. Rodrick Heffley, running. For you.

You stood frozen, like a deer caught in headlights. Say something! Come on, say something! your brain screamed.

"Uh… Let’s... let’s go inside, Lawliet. I, uh… I have candy!" you stammered in a sweet tone, fumbling over the words. Your cheeks burned with embarrassment.

Rodrick burst out laughing, loud and unfiltered, before slapping a hand over his mouth, trying to keep it cool. But the faint pink tint on his face gave him away. He couldn’t believe how adorable you looked, trying so hard to pull off Misa.

"What’s so funny?" you mumbled, shifting your weight awkwardly, your face heating up even more.

"Nothing..." he snorted, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye as his laughter died down. "Can I come in?"

"I… My parents… They’re, uh, kinda strict about guys being here," you muttered, cringing at how childish you sounded. Why did your parents have to be like this now of all times?

Rodrick clicked his tongue and shrugged. "Oh...Okay." But then he shot you that goofy, lopsided grin again, and you couldn’t help but smile back, even if it was a little shy.

"What?" you asked, giggling softly as you played with a lock of your blonde wig.

He shook his head, made a finger-gun motion with his hand, and turned to leave. But just as he took a step, he paused, spun back around, and said, "You know I like you, right?" His voice was casual, but his eyes told a different story.

"Stop messing with me…" you mumbled, barely above a whisper. Your heart was pounding in your chest. But instead of laughing, he stepped closer, hesitating for a moment before cupping your face gently. His eyes locked with yours, and for a second, the world seemed to stand still.

Then, he leaned in and gave you the softest, quickest kiss on the lips.

"Not messing with you, Misa," he said, dropping into L’s signature monotone. You couldn’t help it—you laughed so hard, your shoulders shook.

"Hey, no fair using my OTP!" you pouted, crossing your arms, but he just smirked and kissed you again.

"I’ll use whatever it takes to get you to notice me, nerd," he teased, his voice warm and playful. Then, with one last grin, he stepped back and turned to leave.

You stood there in the doorway, heart racing, watching Rodrick Heffley walk away like you’d just stepped out of the last scene of a shoujo anime.

[stromuprisahat]

I love your takes on the grishaverse so I was wondering what you thoughts was on the theory/headcanon that Alina didn’t really lose her powers but unknowingly locked them as she did before the books’ beginning? Maybe there was a period where she couldn’t summon light bcs she was too exhausted and stressed out by the whole ‘final battle’ thing – banishing thee Fold, Mal’s ‘death’, Darkling’s death – so she assumed she had lost it. And then it was easier to unknowingly continue like that bcs it allowed her to remove herself from ruling and making any decisions and just have her simple co-depended life with Mal as she always wanted.

Personally, I don’t think that’s what happened in canon (certainly not what Bardugo meant) but I find it feasible as fanon interpretation, considering how depressed and deluded Alina appears post-RAR.

I'm more leaning into the explanation, that she intentionally, yet subconsciously rid herself of them (and maybe revived Malyen, when we're at it, since the second life bullshit is just that- bullshit that doesn't make sense, since no other amplifier's running around the same way. But then again- I'm very skeptical, when it comes to Malyen actually being one- he has no properties others do.).

Alina recognizes that as long as she's Grisha, she won't be able to be only with Malyen, and she already admitted she's trying to mould herself into whatever he seems to want from her.

Merzost doesn't seem to be random- it's driven by intention. Ilya "upgraded" mythical animals to have certain properties, Aleksander fucked up first, but then managed to find a way to actively protect his people, when in situation his powers weren't enough. Alina lost what made her special, but since her goal wasn't finished yet, other Sun Summoners sprang into existence and fucked up destruction of the Fold, because it's merzost-made, therefore logic tells us ordinary Small Science shouldn't be enough to vanquish it.

It's true the previous time Alina worked with merzost, her powers "disappeared" for a while, but the "magic" also isn't working from nothing. No matter what we're told, there is a cost, some input. It's not "pure creation". We can see it, when Sasha makes nichevo'ya- he's using his own essence, his life force or whatever want you to call it, to draw them into existence, so Alina would need ~something~ to distribute her powers among others, and the amplifiers are just that- they amplify, wider one's range, not give a new ability.

Besides- there's the question of what grandpa Ilya wanted. If he aimed at Grisha being accepted, instead of othered, why would he take away from one the give to more. It might look pragmatic, but the range is too limited and even if he created such "tools" over and over- he'd only make a new caste of "once-Grisha", instead of levelling the playing field.

One of my fellow fans also pointed out that if merzost is magic, perhaps Alina used it to become an ordinary otkazat'sya. I don't believe so. She might've made herself to appear as one, but after all those books spent reading how is being Grisha integral part of their being, something that makes them themselves... looking at post R&R Chapter 17 Alina isn't looking at slightly more traumatized Alina that can't summon the Light because it's not a part of her. It's looking at a husk of the girl, just like the ends of previous books, when she was suffering due to missing her powers on physical level.

And her lack of skill, when using merzost previous time would support it. She locked away her powers and her hair went white the first time. She got rid of her Light, but her body "remembers" it's missing something.

edit: Also- thank you for (positive) feedback, I'm not being rude, I'm just an social idiot with totally not ADHD, so I get focused on "the point", and forget the social stuff like greeting and replying to nice words, which ARE very motivating for me, but HERE'S THE STUFF I'm thinking about and my brain's coming up with coherent answers- LOOK!

[curio-queries]

I saw Jungkook's documentary this weekend and have just a few thoughts. If you're avoiding spoilers, don't click the cut!

The Hybe Documentary Format

So...as a reminder to you all, I do not have professional expertise in the film industry. I'm just a very discerning consumer. I also haven't seen Hobi's documentary and I watched Road to D-Day while I was quite ill last year so I only vaguely remember some bits. (I'll definitely be getting back to those sooner rather than later though as research for a series of posts I'm developing.) That being said, I think we have enough data points to state that Hybe has absolutely no interest in filmmaking techniques outside of music videos.

I did mostly enjoy my experience seeing this film yesterday and I'm always grateful for any amount of footage the members are willing to share with us but this 'documentary ' was worse than Jimin's Production Diary. Any of you that managed to make it through my rambling review will know how dissatisfied I was with that.

I Am Still is not a documentary, it's a mixture of showcase footage and behind-the-scenes clips, most of which has already been divulged in the various episodes and shooting sketches on YouTube. Honestly, if you're not able to see the film, just go rewatch all of the bangtantv content for JKs solo period and the showcase and you'll be up to speed with 85% of what was in the documentary.

There are definitely some expansions to the storylines featured in the bangtantv content; mostly being anything that wasn't overtly optimistic. For example, we learn a little bit more about just how sick JK was during the Seven/3D promotions. That content likely was pulled from the bangtantv edit because it would have put a damper on the promotions and given certain 'fans' a focus to fixate their vitriol. But overall, it feels more like an extended version of existing content rather than a new work. At least JPD didn't continually feed us footage we'd seen before.

I'm someone who gets completely bothered by previews spoiling content so I didn't watch any of the promos until after I saw it and I am so glad I skipped them because most of the 'original' scenes of the film were featured in least one of them. Alas, that's a separate issue of which I'm definitely in the minority.

Was There No Structure?

Kinda. Like JPD, there is a semblance of a structure: Attempting to follow the chronology of release activities for JKs GOLDEN album through the lens of JKs staement trying to prove that he is still worthy of everything he was being hailed as during the BTS group activities but I don't feel this was successfully executed. It jumps round enough and isn't very successful in explaining the events if you didn't already know about them. The film starts with the SEVEN performance at GMA and footage that we've already seen of JK recording SEVEN, not mentioning anything about the music video or really how JK got involved with the song in the first place. The rest of the story beats have similar missing points.

They have a vague narrative with the 'I Am Still' points but that's mostly carried by subs and a couple of moments that JK mentions himself. I'm not saying it's not true or wasn't top-of-mind for JK during this process but it's not the main point of many of the moment/messages he shared with us during this time period so it feels a little disingenuous since everything else jn this film really only makes sense if you've already seen quite a lot of behind-the-scenes content.

Honestly, it makes me question the intended audience. Obviously, they know that ARMY will shell out whatever we need to when there's new content from our members but most of us will have already seen all of the bangtantv content so we are already familiar with the most of the footage in this film. I genuinely don't think this was produced in such a way to be palatable for audiences not familiar with BTS so who does that leave? Our friends and family that are peripherally aware of the content but haven't learned the basics of JKs album? ARMY with short term memories only?

But again, it seems this film was compiled by an editing team and not lead by a director with experience in crafting a documentary. The only new footage that Ican guarantee was captured with the express purpose of being included in this film was the few clips of JK talking in the practice room with the albums displayed by him. But we all know that's where all of the promo clips were gathered as well. I have issues with that approach as well but I'll leave this point alone for now unless anyone is interested.

Suffice it to say, all of these suppositions over the past year about how JKs documentary was getting special treatment or even questioning about investment in a project up front are dead. This was a product assembled with bits of what they already had completely in-house which was sold for distribution.

So, Did We Learn NOTHING?

No, there are a few Golden nuggets (see what I did there?). I can't recall everything having only seen it once (and having a rather disruptive audience - I swear there were only dozen or so ppl in my theater but I forget how obnoxious teenagers can be. I'm glad they're enjoying and supporting but we really didn't need light sticks flashing during a film and how many times does one person need to get up to answer their phone during this runtime? Three according to the row in front of mine.)

Anyway, something I thought was interesting to learn was that Standing Next To You was initially recorded the day after JK heard it for the first time. And hearing a little more about how JK yearned to perform that song definitelygot me thinking a little more about it. We can't reach any conclusions just with this little nugget but it does open the door to some theories. Like perhaps they were initially planning to have JK record two separate albums? SEVEN and 3D would be the singles of the first and JK would perform them as we saw but perhaps STNY was originally planned to be the single of the 2nd album that would release while he was in the military and thus be unable to perform it? Maybe JK loved STNY so much that everything was grouped into one album and Never Let Go was the only track held back for ms? Definitely some theorizing space to be had now.

Final thoughts?

Similar to my thoughts on the GCF: Budapest (which I feel would have had a much better reception if it had been labeled as a bangtan episode rather than a GCF), I AM Still should not have purported to be a documentary. It was much more similar to the annual Memories compilations. But the general public would not have shelled out the $25 to go to a theater to watch a Memories DVD so alas, we have our content packaged as a ~documentary~...

Did my view on the music change at all? Not because of the documentary. We're coming up on the year anniversary of GOLDEN and it's still definitely not my favorite. I completely understand why some people like it but it's just not to my taste. The overall impact falls a little flat for me. Too much breadth and not enough depth. I came into my musical soul during the 00s emo phase and will always be a sucker for music that absolutely drips in an emotional way rather than catchy songs vaguely referencing heartache and love. Again, just a matter of viewpoint.

I do think most of these songs stand much better being shuffled amongst other artists in a Playlist and several of them are significantly better when JK sang them live but I still won't be listening to them regularly. I wholeheartedly believe JK completed his task of proving himself as an extremely dedicated and versatile singer and performer. He's definitely got some solid points added to his resume after this project.

[chevelleneech]

https://www.tumblr.com/chevelleneech/761066997012414464/watching-frankie-biggz-react-to-the-bts-guide-and?source=share

This thing frustrates me sooooo much so I'm just trying to not go to places where i know I'll see shit you know? I'm in my delulu land where i can be like "if i don't see it then it's not there" when i know it's happening there but still.

I was just thinking about how all jimin and jungkook watch YouTube like that's there go to app for yrs, jk is on tiktok as well where the whole army side is again infected with Tkkrs just like YT as well and jm used to have tikto atleast during covid (as we saw on his phone during BTS's last doc where we saw his home for the first time, he could still be having) and both of them watch members related stuff and Army's made videos as well so out if frustration I'm like They all see it , they see what's been said in those video and how they're portrayed and if they're not giving shits about it is it really worth that we keep fighting these loosers? No. So ig from now on I'm just gonna let ppl think whatever they want of jimin-jungkook's friendship if ppl want to believe they hate e/o so be it, if they think jungkook is forced then so be it.

I remember well that one time when tkklives acct was taken (like Locked or smtg) and then later it was given back to her by BH with a fatass pop-up that the channel doens't cross any boundaries or wtv and she said that BH was quite good to her as in that they didn't take down her acct or shit like that. The point is if people with power who can actually do something about these things don't care is it really worth it that we give it this much attention? Jikook thinks their Fandom loves them when it hates them together so let it be.

This was just my frustrated rant tbh. After yrs of seeing the same shit happening and getting mad over things i can't do anything about I'm just gonna take a step back and let things be. There's no hope for the betterment of this Fandom They're gonna say jikook fanservice for the rest of BTS's existence and there's no turning back there. And given how both jm and jk are private and don't post their personal things online everyone is gonna keep questioning it saying they don't meet apart from work while others who post are gonna be called closest the same that happened in 2023. Although it's been happening since before 2023 but it's just gonna get worse so I'm gonna let people handle it who can actually do something about it.

I sacrificed my algorithm to watch a Tkklives video real quick, not the entire thing, but a portion to see if anything has changed from when I first got into the fandom and wanted to see what a the drama was about once I knew Tkk vs Jikook was a thing.

Anyway, from the 5 minutes I just watched, it doesn’t seem like much has changed. She slows down clips and makes up her own ideas about what’s going on, and people believe it. So if that’s all she’s been doing and continues to do, there is nothing the company can do about that. Not to mention, people keep saying Big Hit said she can keep going, and aside from me never seeing proof of that being true, I would imagine her not living in SK makes it tough to sue her anyway.

She posts elaborate fantasy edits, creating a story out of footage millions of other people have made YouTube edits with. Granted she’s annoying and has stirred a plethora of drama within the fandom, but she’s not doing anything illegal from how it currently looks. So it’s. It even really that a delusional fan is creating and spreading her own conclusions, it must that Tae unfortunately has the most toxic fans out of the members, and majority of them ship Tkk.

His fans also happen to be the most vocal, even if he’s not the most popular, so they tend to cause the most chaos. In any case, I’m not trying to change anything nor argue with people who have sewn their ears shut. It’s just irritating to see a guy who seemingly wants to get to know BTS as people and artists be led astray, over a ship and fandom drama he has no idea about. They’re using his naïvety to manipulate his opinions of the members and the company (the latter which don’t even need help these days), but the second someone suggests a Jikook video for Frankie to watch so he can fully understand that Jimin and Jungkook do essentially live in a bubble when together, and outside parties often come across as third wheels without it being a big deal, that person will be spammed with harassment and be considered a necessary block. Which Frankie would like adhere to, because he is unaware that Tkkrs hate Jimin and his friendship with JK.

Which, from an outside perspective is always going to be difficult to explain, because the actual status of JM and JK’s relationship is irrelevant. Them dating or not does not mean anything to the overall fact of the situation. It’s simple that Tkkrs hate the very possibility of them meaning anything to each other, because they want Tae and JK to mean everything to one another at all times. It’s why Tkkrs struggle to accept even the smallest Jikook moments. JK can’t wish Jimin a happy birthday without Tkkrs claiming he was forced by the company to say something. Jungkoom can’t look at his cellphone even though JM and Tae can, without it meaning he’s bored out of his mind without Tae around to entertain him.

So how do you explain to someone who is 100% unaware of this chaos, that he’s being lied to? There is sensible way to tell Frankie Biggz that the people who harassed him only did so, because they don’t like they he misunderstood Tae’s natural “bitchy” personality, due to him simply not knowing Tae well enough to know that’s just how he is? How do you explain to him that AYS wasn’t written with the intent to make Tae seem like a third wheel, but that Jimin and Jungkook themselves are more than aware that they tend to push people into third wheel territory when with them, because they build a bubble around themselves when together?

You can’t explain that. It has to be observed, but when Tkkrs are able to get ahead of that learning curve, and plant seeds of doubt and convince people that Tae is a victim of a mean company and JM and JK are victims of a script… there’s nothing else that can be done.

I do hope he continues to watch more official content and comes to realize Tae is sort of meh about things, because that’s just who he is. He makes snarky comments and likes to chill out on his own, but he’s also very extroverted and livens up a party when he wants to. I also hope he is able to learn who Jimin and Jungkook are, and understand that it would be impossible to script their friendship for 12 years. But who knows. Hell either fall down the Tkk lies rabbit hole, or see the light. Either way, I am still annoyed Tkkrs got to him so fast.

[pebblysand]

Is My Heart Still In It? (and further reflections ahead of the Page Pals Project)

Hey everyone, I hope that you're doing well. I am back in Ireland now, and just wanted to come on here to remind you of the castles re-read project that will be starting tomorrow (more info here if you want to join). I am very excited about this and look forward to receiving your thoughts and to talking about each chapter as we progress!

Additionally, as a lot of you also saw last week, I received a not-very-nice anon about chapter 21. At the outset, I want to state that my intention writing this isn't to revive the issue, or to stir shit up again. Anon apologised and even if they hadn't, they're allowed to think whatever they want to think. I know a lot of you were very upset on my behalf, and a lot of you DM-ed me last week, which was very kind, but I also think that anon was very well within their rights to have disliked the chapter. Word-vomiting it to my face probably wasn't the most productive way to go about this, and that was typical URL-badman behaviour, but it is a free country.

I haven't had a chance to re-read the chapter, but I also think it's pretty clear what this person disliked about it. There is a change of tone in chapter 21, and a change of pacing, that may have felt rushed to this person, which is probably why they didn't enjoy it. Again, that's not really the question, here.

I think the part of this anon that really stuck with me was the allegation that my heart wasn't "in it" anymore. Firstly, because at a very, face-value level, it's not true. I don't want to seem like I'm being full of myself, here, but I think it is pretty much acknowledged that I am someone who has a very strong work ethic. I spend hundreds of hours on each chapter, I edit, publish, edit after I publish, answer anons, answer comments - like, if there's one thing you cannot actually fault me on, it's the amount of dedication that I have put in this project. I can accept that maybe, when it comes to chapter 21 specifically, I did a little bit less editing than I usually do, which may have caused it to be a bit clunkier, but that was mostly because I was very keen on giving you a chapter before going on holiday, not because my heart wasn't "in it". My heart is in fact so "in it" that I wrote and published 43,000 words in less than a month, so stop it.

But also, on a different level, one that this anon probably didn't even anticipate, they were right. Because, I mentioned their message to my therapist, earlier this week, and said: "Do you think they can tell?"

To be fully transparent with you all, when it comes to castles, I've definitely had many moments of fluctuating motivation in the past four years. I think that when you are writing a story this size, for that much time, it's natural that you will experience ebbs and flows. The summers, I've noticed, have always been particularly hard. The summer of 2021, when everyone was coming at me about my characterisation and, afterwards, about the contents of chapter 8, made me want to give up more times than I can count. So much so that I didn't publish anything for six months after that. I can state very clearly that my heart was very much not in it, then. The summers of 2022 and 2023, when I basically wrote myself into the ground and burnt out by August because I was sleeping four hours a night for months, trying to manage writing and work, were also awful. Those who were here last summer will remember the post I wrote about how much I'd sacrificed for castles, and how much I considered giving up. My heart also wasn't in it, then.

By contrast, now, I'm feeling a lot better about this story. Its end is in sight and I'm so very proud of what I have achieved and what I have managed to pull through. I'm also about to embark onto writing a series of chapters that have literally existed in my head for years, and which I can't wait to share with you. Whilst I am a bit nervous about how the end will be received (which, again, is normal when you have poured that much of yourself into something), I can't wait to finally show you all where I was going with this. I'm so excited for us to finally be able to discuss Everything, and for this fic to be complete. I think that paradoxically when you look at what this anon was saying, I am on "high" when it comes to castles, at the moment. I am more motivated, and my heart is more "in it" than it has been for a long time.

So, why do I say that anon was also right? Well, because I'm grieving. Because like a parent who is watching their child age and move out for college, I'm watching this story edge closer and closer to being finished with a mixture of joy and pride, and grief. I've always felt that once a chapter is published, and once a story is finished, it no longer belongs to me, it belongs to the readers. And, right now, there are only three chapters left, which are my own. Soon, this story will have grown up into its own thing and it will belong to the people who read it for as long as there is a Harry Potter fandom, for as long as the internet exists, but it will no longer be just mine. And, so, when I say "Do you think they can tell?" I mean that. Can they tell in my words on the page that I'm saying goodbye, too? That maybe I am slowly trying to distance my heart from this thing that I've built little by little, because I'm hoping that the grief will hurt just a little bit less, when the time comes?

I love this story so much. I know that it means a lot to a lot of you, and I don't mean to diminish that reader experience in any way, but it means a lot to me, too. Probably in a very different way. This story has been my refuge, my baby, my best friend, my enemy, my lifeline, for four years now. And, I love the community it has brought together, stupid anons included, so I worry. About what it'll be like not having that. About whether people will be interested in my writing in the future. About the possibility that I might never experience this level of connection again. And, so, of course, I am happy and keen, and so excited to finish and share this with you. Also, I'm not going to lie, I'm very much looking forward to getting some of my free time back (haha) for the first time in years. But, I'm also grieving. And, maybe, like this anon accidentally suggested, you might be able to tell in my words, or you might not. Either way, I'm telling you: my heart is very much in it. It's just - learning to say goodbye.

So: join me on the re-read, starting tomorrow. Join me as I say goodbye. And, I can't say I won't cry, but I hope we'll all get where we need to be in the end. ❤️

[merp-blerp]

Some Tincrow Moments From The Wiz Production I Just Saw While It’s Fresh In My Mind

Note: I had never seen the stage version of The Wiz before last night, so I could be missing things and points. Also, my memory might be just a bit fuzzy on exact details, but I know this stuff mention did indeed happen at some point.

Avery Wilson was Scarecrow and Phillip Johnson Richardson was Tinman. They absolutely killed it. Everyone did. I’m going to need a cast album and pro-shot please!

Scarecrow is a dance God once they get him off the poll in time for “You Can’t Win”. Why they kept Michael Jackson on a damn poll in the movie despite the fact that his dance moves would've been really cool for Scarecrow, I’ll never know.

This is the first direct Oz retelling I’ve seen to give Scarecrow a human backstory (Wicked is more of/better off seen as it’s own thing in my opinion). He was once a scientist who got his brain taken by one of the witches and turned into a Scarecrow. I don’t remember if it’s mentioned if he had a family in this show—it might’ve not been—but if he did I guess he would’ve completely forgotten because he “has no brain”. And I might be wrong, but I think it was mentioned he had a name too, but if so I don’t remember it. I find that interesting and fun to play with, especially if one would be able to compare and contrast that with Nick Chopper’s backstory (and/or whatever the Tinman’s name might be in this version of Oz; guy collects names like candy). I would have to see The Wiz again in order to do that myself, but you know, I like the idea.

Tinman’s backstory is slightly different. He was too gay and sassy for his own good, saying one of the witches was a “rusty” singer, causing her to turn him from a lumberjack into a “heartless” Tinman who gradually lost almost all of his memories outside of the mere fact that he once had a family due to this curse. He thinks he doesn’t have a heart because he can’t remember the ones he loved, just that he used to. Nimmie Amee isn’t a part of his story in this show. That’s about as tragic as the backstory Baum gave him, if not worse.

Give me an angst with a happy ending AU where Tinman and Scarecrow knew each other as humans but both forgot due to their curses, only to rediscover each other through their found families. Imagine Scarecrow having Nimmie Amee’s original role in a way—noooo—

Scarecrow mimicking Tinman’s rusty dance moves while they oil him (he mimicked a lot of people throughout the show—Dorothy, the wizard’s announcers calling his name, maybe etc., so I guess it was just his cute little thing).

When Dorothy’s trying to convince the gang to bring Lion along Tinman says “Are you sure? We already have to bring Captain Brainless?” (or something a lot like that, I'm paraphrasing), thinking they had too many already as if his husband wasn't first in line on the journey before him, only for Scarecrow to say, “I’m captain?!?!” *Insert cute happy head waggles* (Hits different when you know Scarecrow becomes the ruler of Oz after the first book till Ozma’s found, but his leadership wasn't mentioned in The Wiz so maybe that's not on purpose) I adore Avery Wilson’s take on Scarecrow. Tinman has always been my favorite of Dorothy’s friends if I had to pick one, but Wilson’s performance really made Scarecrow stand out even more than usual. I don’t know if I can explain it, it might just have to be seen; pray there’s a slime tutorial out there.

Lion’s kinda gay too, but in solo. And I know Ozma’s not here, so there’s not really any evidence for Dorothy’s queerness… but she is—I can feel it in my lesbian soul, okay!?!?

All of Dorothy’s friends not only want their gifts, but don't see the point in their existences without them. It made me sad for them.

I don’t know where to mention it, but Toto’s not in this show at all—poor guy. EDIT: I just learned that in the original production, Toto was played by a white dog as a joke that there was an all-black cast as opposed to him traditionally being a black/brown dog with a white cast. That is hilarious—why didn't they recreate that???

Tincrow’s only straight-feeling moment is with them both being distracted by the poppies (which caught me off guard in this show because traditionally Scarecrow and Tinman are the only ones not affected by the poppies because they’re not flesh and blood like Dorothy, Lion, and Toto; in this Dorothy was the one to break everyone free from them. I’ve been trying to understand the purpose of this change. Maybe to give Dorothy a bit more agency). The poppies were these sensual flower ladies trying to convince the gang to be lazy, which on it’s own is a fun twist on the flowers that put Dorothy and Lion to sleep. But hey, maybe that makes it not straight, just lazy. I'm all for Bi4Bi Tincrow too.

After the Kalidahs attack they comfort and hype each other and Dorothy up (Dorothy’s their sapphic adopted daughter, in this essay, I will—).

I forget when exactly this happens, maybe during the Kalidahs scene, but at one point they casually cling to each other's arms for no(?) reason. They just met and they’re already married.

Scarecrow backup-singing a little before everyone else joins Tinman during “What Would I Do If I Could Feel” (at least at my showing, I don’t know if this is a regular occurrence as a part of the show or just something that happened to happen at mine).

Making fun of the Wicked Witch together, calling her smelly, and having Lion join in. Bros, that’s what got you in trouble to begin with—messing with a dang witch!

Interestingly, the idea of Dorothy’s friends having they’re gifts all along isn’t here. Instead, it’s implied that after they kill the last wicked witch the curse is mostly lifted, with Tincrow’s gifts returning to them, but they stay a scarecrow and tin-man for some reason. I like to think they still had them all along though, that idea’s too cute and sweet for me to let go of.

The last time we see them they leave the stage together, Lion going ahead of them to reunite with his mom. I can’t explain why this feels important to me. I guess because usually characters exit the stage individually as like a goodbye queue to the audience, knowing that that last step off the stage will detemand the last impression of the characters. So the fact that the last impression of both of them is them together feels special. Or maybe it’s just me.

They both had such sassy black queer vibes the whole time. The show itself already has such sass, but both of them, Scarecrow especially, were oozing it in different fonts. They were giving off bear x twink—or maybe otter couple vibes.

Gay or not, The Wiz is so great! I recommend it so much!

[fire-but-ashes-too]

SOOOOOO

i was tagged by @rickie-the-storyteller over heeeereeee and it didnt let me reblog so new post!

LAFGSLKRGHLSKGH THIS IS SO FUN HELP WHY DIDNT I KNWO THIS EXISTED-

ANYWAYSSSSS

i gto very little ships (sadly) so im gonna go with both platonic and romantic ehehehe

Annexander (is it how were calling it?? idk) (@holdmyteaplease ur the expert on this give me a feedback)

Alexander: Think you can answer some questions without the usual level of sarcasm? Anne: If you can ask the questions without the usual level of stupid.

Alexander: *shatters a window and climbs through it* Alexander: *turns around and helps Anne through it* Breaking and entering is wrong Anne. Anne: Okay. Anne: Shut it Alexander, I only shook your hand because I had to. We will NEVER be friends. Alexander: Lets survive this together! Anne: I HOPE YOU DIE. Anne: Fellas, I gotta know for science. Is the opposite of red green or blue? Alexander: Technically a mix of green and blue? Anne: So blurple. Alexander: That's implying you're mixing blue and purple. Anne: Would you rather have fucking bleen? MOTHERFUCKING GRUE? Alexander: You were confusing before but now I'm scared Anne, holding a scooter: Alexander! Can I go outside and play with this? Alexander: Sure, whatever. I'm not your parent, okay? Anne, running outside: Thanks Alexander! Alexander, running out after them and screaming: NOT ON THE STREET! STAY AWAY! Alexander: It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s free: pouring river water in your socks! Anne: Why would I do that? Alexander: It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s free!

HELP CAUSE WHY IS THIS SO THEMMMM AKFGASKJGF

Anne and Indigo (the absolute besties)

Anne: So... what would you do if you were in bed with me? Indigo: Depends. Is your bed comfortable? Anne: Yes. Indigo: I'd sleep.

*Anne sends more than 5 messages in a row* Indigo: I ain’t reading all that. Indigo: I’m happy for you tho. Indigo: Or sorry that happened. Anne: I have a plan. Indigo: Good! As long as we aren’t breaking the law again, I’m open to hearing it. Anne: … Indigo: … Anne: I no longer have a plan.

Anne: Oh, so when crows remember people who wronged them and hold grudges, its “intelligent” and “really cool”. Anne: But when I do it, I’m “petty” and “need to let it go”.

ok... this is scarily accurate...

Alexis and Claire (friends to lovers complete dumbasses edition)(they have exactly 1 brain cell and they take turns being the responsible one. most times i gets forgotten at home)

Alexis: My hands are cold. Claire: Here, let me hold them. Alexis: My lips are cold too. Claire: *covers Alexis's mouth with their hand* Alexis: You’d be stupid to lay a hand on me. Claire: Oh, you’d be surprised how much stupid shit I do. Claire: You either buckle down and do your work or you’ll end up at McDonalds. Alexis: We're going to McDonalds if I don't do my work? Claire: NO- Alexis: What do you do for a living? Claire: I exist against my will. Alexis: Claire, I have a question. Claire: What is it, Alexis? Alexis: What color is an orange? Claire: Alexis, you bonehead! Its color is the same as its name. Just like a lemon. Alexis: I hope no one lowkey hates me. Alexis: Highkey hate me. Hate me with every fiber of your being. Alexis: Go big or go home.

THIS IS FUN. VERY FUN.

HOW TO CREATE CHARACTERS 101: NAME, BASIC VIBES AND THROW THEM AROUND IN THE INCORRECT QUOTES GENERATOR✨

tagging literally everyone i know on this one cause the world deserves to do this

@olivescales3 @albatris @bloody-neon @bassguitarinablackt-shirt @briannaswords @cabbojage @daisywords @desastreus @did-i-do-this-write @deanwax @digital-chance @enchanted-lightning-aes @ember-writer @eli-is-an-idiot @firesmokeandashes @fioreshere @guessillcallitart @gwenthekween @harleyacoincidence @holdmyteaplease @iannicellis @jaxypaxyhaxy @j3st3rfun3r4l @kooperation1101 @koala2all @lycaens @liv-is @lyonette-does-things @mayakern @nocturnalmohawk @quinnharperwrites @roisinivy @raspberrykraken @spicymochi @scifimagpie @the-mindless @unmellowyellowfellow @whynotcherries @writingmargo @writing-with-sophia @writeblr-of-my-own @wrenofthewords @yeahthatswhatimtolkienabout @yesireadbooks @your-absent-father @zihus @zillanovikov sorry if i tagged any

[paradoxcase]

Harrow the Ninth audiobook, through to the end of Act 1

I had to regenerate the audiobook again because I made a mistake editing the chapters file last time, whoops, and the Act 1 mp3 ended in the middle of Harrow getting all riled up about Ortus being passive-aggressive. I'm really enjoying Ortus being a little shit again in this book

I listened to a bit of the previous chapter again, because I also wrote down the timestamp I stopped at wrong, and I note that Harrow experienced temporal lobe pain when she saw Babs' knife, but I'm not sure this makes sense? This happens to her when she sees or hears something that she should remember from Canaan House but which she erased with the brain surgery, but as Gideon correctly points out, she doesn't have any memories of Babs' knife, she never saw him fight with it. And she doesn't react this way to other things that she just generally doesn't have knowledge of that Gideon as the narrator has knowledge of and comments on, like every single time she sees a pommel

When Harrow points out that "bone frenzy" is kind of suggestive, Ortus goes on a rant about how he wouldn't want someone who giggled at things like that to even read his poetry, which kind of makes me wonder what Gideon's relationship was to the Noniad, if she had any at all. Like, I can't imagine she would have read it of her own free will, but it sounds like Ortus liked to recite it for everyone regardless of whether or not they wanted to read it and now I can just imagine Gideon making dumb crude jokes about "bone frenzy" and Ortus indirectly implies that Gideon is a moron and it goes completely over her head and she has no idea he even said that

The Wake letters don't sound nearly capslock enough in the audiobook, I expected something more shouty and a little unhinged

At some point on the Erebos, John is referred to as "the god of dead kings". What dead kings? I don't think anyone in the Nine Houses remembers or has any records of any dead kings, or anyone who ever used the title "king" other than John himself. There might be dead kings outside of the Nine Houses, but John isn't their god

Mercy's voice is exactly right, A+

Sarpedon voice is good. I can't tell if it's a different accent, or if I'm just imagining things

John tells the people on the Erebos that "our enemies have once more raised their hands to those who would be at peace with them" referring to BOE's recent attack, and calls them "those who cannot forgive [us for being necromancers]" which is massively ironic after reading Nona, actually

The dead languages on the stele are mentioned, and I ask again: what dead languages? Supposedly everyone in the Nine Houses doesn't remember any of the languages that were around on Earth, except for English, which has supposedly been spoken unaltered for 10,000 years, and I guess Maori, which I get the feeling only John knows any of. So what dead languages exist in the Nine Houses?

John talks about "the first method" of FTL travel "destroyed something to do with time and space, making it not useful for anything else". I guess he means that method that the trillionaires used to escape Earth?

The lava metaphor for the River was actually Cassiopeia's originally, I've never been so disappointed

I mentioned this before, but John categorically states that non-Lyctors cannot survive in the River at all, regardless of whether or not there are hungry ghosts there, but this definitely doesn't seem to be the case in Nona

John says Pyrrha's trial was in Lab 3, but I remember it being in Lab 2?

Ianthe sees Some Shit in the River prior to when the ghost ward exploded and the ghosts started appearing. I'm kind of curious what she saw, now

During the River travel segment, John and Mercy seem to think there are fewer corpses in the River than expected, and that this is worrisome. I wonder if this is a precursor to whatever caused the River to completely empty of ghosts in Nona

Abigail and Magnus are back! Yay!

In the Canaan House scene where Teacher is introducing them to the trial, Harrow says to Ortus: "The choice [of cavalier] is beyond me now, unless you can conjure me the spirit of Mattias Nonius, in which case I will take on his services" and about the Sleeper, "in the worst case scenario you can simply declaim to it", I love that this is exactly what happens on both accounts

Harrow has this weird doublethink about what she remembers from Canaan House - like, on the surface, it seems like she made the River bubble to be her replacement memory for what happened, but that doesn't match up in some cases. We know at the end of the book that the River bubble is happening in real time, whenever Harrow goes to sleep (or passes out) and she doesn't have direct control over what happens there, because the ghosts are really there and are able to make their own decisions on how to act. But she seems to remember Corona's death at the very beginning of the book when she tells Ianthe that Corona is probably dead, even though she hasn't experienced that part of the bubble yet. Also, she has very clear memories of killing Cytherea at the beginning of the book, and these aren't accompanied by brain pain so she must not have tried to remove them at all (sensible), but Cytherea isn't in the River bubble at all, so it's not at all clear where she fits into the false memory. I can't think of a reason why Harrow couldn't have summoned Cytherea to take part in the bubble, although that might have been a bad idea since maybe Cytherea still has Lyctor powers in the bubble for the same reason that Wake and Nonius had powers there. But Harrow still has these very clear and pain-free memories of things that actually happened at Canaan House mixed in with the fake memories that don't logically make sense together with them. This sort of raises the question of why she couldn't have allowed herself to have, say, similarly contradictory memories about Camilla's survival, since she specifically wanted to follow up with her and Camilla's death in the River bubble was not super plot relevant

Augustine voice is fine, but I don't feel like it's particularly distinctive

Augustine is worried that G1deon will "put two and two together" about the BOE attack, but I'm not sure I know what he means. I think this was in the context of G1deon having complicated feelings about Wake, but it's common knowledge at this point that Wake is dead. Or does he mean like, G1deon might draw the conclusion that BOE only attacked John in that manner because Wake was no longer in charge and that might make him feel bad about killing her?

I like G1deon's voice, interested to see how this gets modified to become Pyrrha's voice

Harrow describes G1deon as looking like a poorly-made construct, which makes some sense, because he was only John's second attempt at making a completely new body and the first time he just used Hollywood Hair Barbie as model. But like, on the other hand, John surely knew what G1deon looked like before the suitcase nuke. Did he actually have a stronger mental image of Hollywood Hair Barbie than of his own best friend? Or did G1deon just already look like a poorly-made construct naturally? Or did John actually somehow have his Hollywood Hair Barbie with him when he created Alecto's body and that's why it turned out well? Did John bring Hollywood Hair Barbie to the cryo lab and sleep with it at night? Or was Alecto right about her body being hideous (from a human perspective) and Harrow's opinion that she is hot is just Harrow being a weirdo?

[postsforposting]

It's a memory, and it's out of order

This theory about GO S2 belongs to @bbbitchvibbbez. They asked me to post for them.

The sequence of events is (mostly) real, but out of order. Rather than the Metatron, I think it's possible that Crowley, Aziraphale, and Gabriel all hid whatever was in the box Gabriel brought to the bookshop, and they hid it even from themselves. And what we're seeing is actually several months of memories re-edited together without the knowledge of the thing in box ever existing/where it's hidden. Why they did this or what it is, I have no idea. I don't think it was the book of life, but that's just more of a gut feeling. I also think the memory flashbacks have each been altered to some extent (minor to major) to have some kind of clue hidden in them about like, what the thing was, where it is, and why they did it.

The "hiding" miracle is not actually to hide Gabriel, that's just how they're remembering it now that they can't remember what they were actually hiding.

I think that would also explain the weirdness around hiding Gabriel, like why they perform the miracle on him, not the fly, and why they don't seem to need to do anything to reverse the miracle. Everyone just recognizes him once he has his memory back. This hinges on angels recognizing other angels through "their you-ness", their essence, not physically by a person's face like humans do--all of Gabriel's "him-ness" is in the fly, as Beelzebub says, so none of the angels recognize him except when the fly is buzzing right next to his head. Crowley and Aziraphale have lived on earth for all earth's life, so they have learned the skill of recognizing faces. This is how they know it's him even though his essence is in the fly. Thus, they should have done the hiding miracle on the fly, not on Gabriel's corporation. This tracks because once Gabriel "opens" the fly, all his essence is back, and the angels can recognize him.

Saraquel is working with them to hide any remaining evidence of what they did from the Metatron/the other angels. They apparently had a video of Gabriel leaving and hitting the button in the elevator to earth but they didn't know he was on earth before Muriel brought them the matchbox.

[alexanderlightweight]

Hola, hope you're doing well. I was scrolling trough tiktok and I saw an edit of the "You would not hold up well under torture" "oh and you would?" "I did" so maybe Magnus let that detail slip? Or i don't know something inspired in that quote? 😁

hola! i am doing very well thank you, and this prompt was a lot of fun so i hope you like where i went with it <3 it was definitely inspiring

-

“Magnus!” Simon calls, relief in his voice as he heads Magnus’ way and really, if it wouldn’t delay him even further, Magnus would just portal Simon somewhere else.

Where his existence doesn’t interfere with Magnus getting to Alexander as quickly as possible.

“Yes, hello Simon.” Magnus says dryly and he continues on, stepping past Simon and rolling his eyes when Simon’s expression drops.

“Wait, Magnus—” and Simon is chasing him now, “uh, wow. You are fast, is this a warlock thing too? Because I thought vampires were supposed to get cool stuff, but I can’t even outrun runed shadowhunters.”

“Simon, I am incredibly busy.” Magnus tells him, a hint of fire to his tone. “I am going to collect Alexander, and then I am taking him home. So why don’t you run along, before I ask someone who is actually supposed to be here, why you are bothering the Commander of this Institute’s partner?”

“Uh—”

Magnus makes eye contact with a blond hunter he thinks might be called Undermole, he’s not entirely sure because Alexander is too distracting for Magnus to pay attention to much else. The hunter immediately steps up, blocking Simon’s path.

“The Commander is waiting for you in his

Magnus pauses, suddenly suspicious as he glares at Simon. The hunter seems to notice because suddenly, he’s also staring Simon down, backing Magnus up.

“Simon—” Magnus drawls, leadingly, “is there something you have to tell me?”

“What? No, me? No, I’m just you know, happy to see you. Yeah, cause you’re my buddy and Alec’s buddy and—”

“I am not Alexander’s buddy, Simon.” Magnus says, voice clipped, and he lets magic wreathe his nails with fire as he looks at them, feigning boredom. “And whatever you think you are to me, it’s about to become even less.”

“Izzy just needs to talk with Alec. For like a half an hour, max!” Simon blurts out, “but she lost track of time and Alec put in a rule that if it’s not an alarm level emergency, you get priority.”

“You would not hold up well under torture.” Magnus mutters, utterly disgusted and done with both Simon and Isabelle. It would have been one thing to ask if Magnus would mind waiting a few minutes, but they have plans and he won’t be postponing them for underhandedness.

“Oh, like you’d do any better.” Simon grumbles and Magnus scoffs, even as Undermole sucks in a deep breath and looks between the two of them in horrified shock.

“Oh, I’m known for holding up under torture.” Magnus tells me, delighting in the panic and sudden fear in Simon’s eyes. “You can ask any hunter here, including your girlfriend. I’m sure the clave has pages upon pages of just how little information they’ve ever been able to extract from me no matter how hard they tried. Do you want a lesson, Simon? In the art of holding, one’s tongue?”

“I’ll take him from here!” Undermole interjects and he’s bodily hauling an unresisting and gaping Simon away.

Magnus is furious now, his skintight as he remembers just how far he’s willing to go before betraying those he cares about. It creates an itch, a hunger and need he can’t settle, and Magnus isn’t sure what’s showing on his face, but every single hunter he passes gets out of his way and keeps their eyes down.

Alexander’s door is shut, and Magnus slams it open with a flare of magic that has Isabelle spinning, hand on her pommel and Alexander looking towards him with delight.

The wonder on his boy’s face fades the minute he sees Magnus and Alexander barks out an “Izzy, leave now.”

His sister tries to protest, and Alexander ignores her, walking over to Magnus and when she continues to talk, Magnus gives in and flings her from the room. He’s seen shadowhunters survive much worse than being slammed against the hall and his magic seals the door into place.

“What do you need, Magnus?” Alexander is asking him, smooth and sweet and concerned.

“I’m going to take you somewhere knew,” Magnus tells him. Which is a change from their plans, “and I’m going to fuck you until the only thing either of us knows is how well we fit together.”

“Okay—” Alexander tells him, hands soothing as the rub Magnus’ shoulders and then tightly grip his biceps, “take me home then, Magnus. I’m yours, why don’t you show me where I belong, okay?”

“With me,” Magnus murmurs, his anger stoked and the fire needing the cool of a blizzard to temper it. “You belong with me, to me, don’t you sweetheart?”

“Always,” Alexander promises him, and he lets Magnus tug him through a portal. Taking his boy to the fortress Cat and Ragnor once built him, so that Magnus could put himself back together, piece by piece.

[clavissionary-position]

CLAVIS × READER, Waltzhectica

N O T E S This is a suuuper-old fic I wrote over a year ago but never posted, long before I read Clavis' route. So his characterization here is based on how shady he seemed before we discovered who he really is. I also added some tiny edits. I remember I was inspired by the writings of gilbertvonobsidian and ndoandou <3

Clavis Lelouch has hands for tuning traps.

Clavis Lelouch has hands for placing pitfalls on roads he's paved, pebble by rigged pebble.

Clavis Lelouch has hands for forgeries and framing friends.

Clavis Lelouch has hands for betrayal.

So why do you take his hand when he asks for a dance?

His approach is preceded by a prance of bergamot, a jaunt of peony, and it sends your heart hammering.

You'd asked Rio to leave the small thank-you in Chevalier's faction office, a week ago. It wasn't much, and you'd rather not have gifted Clavis anything at all for fear of further entangling yourself in his plots.

And yet it seems now that you've done precisely that.

A young, merry couple cuts across his path, but the thread between him and you only cinches ever-taut. You are the rabbit in his prowling gaze. He is the hedonistic hellcat in yours.

His elegant, ambling strides carry him to tower and tantalize before you. His bewitching expression glitters under chandelier-light.

A man so gorgeous yet so wicked should not exist. But Clavis Lelouch defies expectation and common sense.

He bows and holds out that portentous hand, asking you to see the gentleman and not the beast.

Strangely, you see neither. Strangely, you almost see humility.

Clavis Lelouch is no stranger to masks. You know this as well as you know your own heart.

But tonight both those certainties come into question. You take the devil's hand, scared, but above all intrigued.

He yanks you into his arms and sweeps you into pandemonium. Into the maw of the ballroom, where grace promptly dies and something that could never be called a dance spirals into unholy existence.

Clavis Lelouch reigns as crooked king over the lawless land in his head. And for three weird minutes on this alluring night, he ferries you, flailing limbs and panicked gasps, into his private underworld.

"Take care to hold on," chuckles your ferryman, knowing full-well that you are holding on for dear life.

He tests your spine as the top of your head grazes a tray of appetizers. Luke's bear key-chain finds a new home between your teeth. You catch morsels of political discourse as you are hurtled above Chevalier and his audience.

But somehow you escape death (and even injury) because somehow Clavis catches you every time, with heedless but confident hands, and with such mirth dancing in his eyes.

The string ensemble has capsized, the guests watch in horror, and Clavis―Clavis laughs.

A hearty laugh that thrums in your veins and sets your skin tingling.

You don't know if you're having fun exactly, but whatever this is, it is rare and unforgettable.

And as he draws you into a grand and terrible finale, as he shushes you with only an exquisite finger separating his sylphlike lips from yours, and as he disappears into the astonished crowd, you're left thinking that "rare" and "unforgettable" is exactly how you'd describe Clavis Lelouch.

--- Thank you for reading!

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #17 Redone

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 2, The Clue, (Job minisode; Crowley has a permit)

...

Introduction

Well, I said I would decide when the time came, and the time has come. So fine, here we are. As I said way back on my post about Before the Beginning, I have a high preference for present day Crowley as it is.

The whole story and its set of games include various challenges, and the minisodes are no exception, especially when it comes to analyzing Crowley's hair.

Surprisingly, the present day sideburns are still broadly solvable without the minisodes. If anything, they are a guide for trying to figure out the minisodes themselves by telling an audience player to seriously consider the spaces as the hair changes.

I've already admitted these things are a bit over my head when it comes to these memories, but I'll go over the how and why of it a bit more.

A good place to start is The Magic Trick You Didn't See theory I've referenced before, most notably in Post #8.

Reminder, the core theory there is that the Metatron has access to the Book of Life and has been editing it the whole time. More to the point, he's been editing mostly Aziraphale's memories and maybe Crowley's as well.

Now, something I have not said explicitly in my posts from that theory is that the author themself says Good Omens 2 has bad writing in it, presumably on purpose.

Sorry, but it does.

You know what? I'm not a professional author or even much of a reader, but that resonates.

Their idea is that the bad writing is a clue that the Metatron is editing the Book of Life, and he is a bad writer.

Well, I still think the Book of Life is actually in that matchbox, but otherwise, the idea strikes me as quite plausible. Well, sort of. You really shouldn't be able to edit someone's memories. I personally don't think that's a good story-telling device. What's the limit? What are the rules? Why not just write the story exactly as you want it to play out or the person exactly as you want them to be? Unless it's a game?

But I'm not a professional writer, especially Neil Gaiman, and I do believe the "Crowley storming out" sequence is meant to be an obvious story edit.

But not by the Metatron. That was a team effort. This effort suggests the "rules" of such a game would then entail that the Metatron isn't allowed to be the only being that can edit the story (or memories).

The Earthly Objects game is being played, and this game is powerful stuff.

As I've said, Earthly Objects itself might be a book that is a game. So, combining these ideas, Earthly Objects might still then be a book that the Metatron himself can edit, instead of the Book of Life. He still has to play the game at the end.

And certain players of a high enough caliber can make their own edits.

Then we approach what I think is a tricky question for this story.

What is the character point of view?

This question feels like a trap because of the spaces acting like a point of view within the game. People are going to ask the question anyway, especially with this episode giving at least three hints as to who was remembering a scene and who is about to remember a scene.

But since the Earthly Objects game exists, the Metatron could be editing parts, and Crowley and Aziraphale themselves can also be editing parts, an audience player is going to have a very hard time finding the answer.

My understanding is that the memories we see aren't just a person's memories.

These memories are stories, and the spaces in these memories still have readings of Crowley based on various factors though those factors aren't so easily and plainly paralleled to the present day ones.

The stories themselves, I believe, are embellished and contain hidden messages between Crowley and Aziraphale, even if they have to deal with the Metatron intruding on those memories and trying to separate them in the end.

For whatever it's worth to anyone on the character point of view question, I do think Crowley is the closest thing we can have to that.

Aziraphale is the surface-level point of view and messenger.

Crowley is the layered-level point of view and messenger.

On my first viewing, the Good Omens 2 story felt more like Aziraphale's story. It was disappointing and felt quite lacking on Crowley's end of things.

But when I dug deeper and found the games, things changed. I can't see the extent of Crowley's point of view on the story without playing the games. I can't speak for other people, but that's how I feel. The story is amazingly and beautifully different with the games. Since I have played them, I do think finding 6 Threshold Tricks is a big deal, especially with my limited understanding of how much The Pocket Trick affects so much else.

The Threshold Tricks help make the bookend nature between Crowley and Muriel scenes stand out. In turn, Crowley himself having bookend solo cuts for the season stands out more too. He's who we saw first in Before the Beginning. He's who we will see last before the credits slide his cut over to the side and start rolling. He "pockets" the story before those credits start.

So, that's why I have a hard time with the hair in the minisodes and understanding the character point of view. I'll still pass along my limited understanding throughout these posts.

...

Episode Title

This episode has got some nerve being titled The Clue!

It has the first "touch" of The Bigger Thresholds Trick, two more touches for The Sunglasses Trick, and the first two touches of The Pocket Trick. The Pocket Trick starts this episode—The Pocket Trick!!!

The Pocket Trick is loaded with so many clues, such as the most likely place to discover the existence of the Tied Hands.

This episode also has a reflection of Aziraphale in Crowley's sunglasses as a clue for The Window Trick.

There's like 10 million clues in this episode!

If the challenge is to guess The Clue that is not the record but to pick the most special clue of the clues or something, my answer is the Pocket Frame touch point in The Pocket Trick, Triple Part 2. That Pocket Frame is for capturing the Green with the rainbow. It happens before Aziraphale even "proposes".

Here is the video frame in question:

I will go over it more when I get to that part of the episode.

But anyway...

I'm using Crowley's name as a general preference and figuring I can get away with it because the official subtitles do.

Images are brightened as I see fit.

...

Hairstyle Notes

Crowley's hair is shorter than what's going to appear later, but in this minisode, short does not necessarily trend human as it does compared to the present day storyline. It doesn't necessarily mean Crowley's point of view or Aziraphale's point of view either.

This length goes down mostly to his shoulders. When he bows his head with the scroll, some skin can be seen at the neckline of his cloak.

The hair is not just short though. The sides of Crowley's hair are more fluffy and curly than what's going to be shown when he has shorter hair around Job and Sitis.

What's worth considering about the space?

Earth is a lot younger.

This reading looks more like "open" because of at least two factors that aren't Aziraphale or the goats or Crowley himself.

There are no humans in this scene.

Not only are there no humans, there are no human-built or human-inhabited structures with thresholds visible. I keep looking in case I missed it somewhere, and I'm not finding them.

The space is wide, open, and vast. There is a ravine in the background.

I still can't find any humans or human-built structures.

I can find goats, water, plant life, and rocks. There is also a supernatural ball of fire active during most of the scene though it is not formed until after the scene starts and dissipates before the scene's end.

In this particular story within the story, a stronger curl or fluff in the hair is associated with what most closely matches a "supernatural" reading later when human-built structures are involved.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Crowley touches one of the goats. Aziraphale touches a rock by eventually going to stand up on a specific one. Crowley touches the scroll.

Neither addresses the other by direct name though Crowley is addressed as "Demon" by title initially. The names said are Almighty God, Almighty, God, Satan, and Job.

Questions include "Ah, shall we begin?" and "Where was I?"

Time to pay attention to the pockets.

With the changed costume, there are no present day Tied Hands. However, quickly in their place are threads on Crowley's chest that form pockets over him already.

Crowley creates a pocket between himself and the goat just by grabbing it.

He is pocketed between goats just before he creates the large supernatural ball of fire. Not only that, he briefly crosses his left arm horizontally above his right arm when "Land of Uz" appears on screen.

With his right-side snake tattoo being more evidently visible on his face than in preceding cuts, Crowley crosses his arms upward, then uncrosses them as his means to create the giant fireball.

When Aziraphale shows up, Crowley creates pockets between his arms and his head before fully lowering his arms. As a general guess, that helps keep the ball of fire where it is above him.

The scroll itself creates a massive pocket over the landscape with a small opening between Crowley and Aziraphale themselves::

Crowley is maintaining position under his fireball until he unleashes it. It's like his own temporary supernatural roof.

Aziraphale is notably touching his own robe at times during the scene.

When the crows appear, they are visually pocketed between Aziraphale's and Crowley's heads.

My tangential reading to improve my play has me at finishing Pyramids by Terry Pratchett and starting on Guards! Guards!, which is the book I've found most commonly recommended for reading first instead of going by published order. Yes, I still chose publishing order anyway. Pyramids has a funny-but-cruel "short-handed" joke, which is not a pun I've thought of yet, so I'll be keeping it in mind.

I'm also on The Sandman Volume 2 by Neil Gaiman. I'm in the early part of it but The Threshold was heavily emphasized with the introduction of Desire, and I've been emphasizing thresholds as quite important for this Good Omens 2 story in my own theories.

...

Story Commentary

The opening immediately gives us a year, 2500 BC, with some film grain on the cut as a visual alert that we have entered a story within the story we are watching. This part also helps alert us to something like a movie and different than the sign boards used in season 1. Between Crowley and Aziraphale, Crowley is the one the story tells us who likes movies. He'll mention a "Richard Curtis film" later this episode and was at a movie theater while waiting out whenever Hell would come for him in season 1.

In other words, when looking for a point of view, that's a likely clue, especially since much like Before the Beginning, Crowley is shown first, and he is alone.

Once Aziraphale arrives, does the scene shift to his point of view?

If so, I think it's shared because the stories themselves are like coded messages written between the players, mainly Crowley and Aziraphale, with some potential Metatron invasive edits.

Due to the scenes with the kids later, it's possible the camera angles hint to the point of view, at least sometimes. So, if that's the case, I think that Aziraphale's POV on Crowley is at least the 3/4ths Crowley's left view of Crowley's upper body and face.

That's this general angle:

This particular scene is exaggerated in ways that remind me of a cartoon, such as the scroll rolling its way all over the vast space. That's a clue for someone figuring out the hair about the nature of the space too. That's the type of clue I would expect from Crowley instead of Aziraphale because again, between the two of them, he's the one who is known to watch cartoons.

The scroll appears from nowhere, and once dropped, it doesn't actually go anywhere in the scene itself either. It's not on the ground. It went into that same "pocket" dimension other cartoon items do when items are grabbed for the convenience of a scene.

This scene is a parallel to the closing scene of the minisode, which is far more serious in tone. That makes it the front bookend, or part of an outer pocket, to the minisode itself.

Aziraphale alerts us to how "unreal" the scene is by saying, "This can't be real". The line itself then has two opposing meanings. The memory story can't be real, or isn't quite real, but the contents of the scroll allowing Crowley to destroy everything Job owns is "real".

Hence, maybe things didn't happen this exact way back then, but the messages inside the story are still going to be real enough to hold value to the characters.

In the dialogue, Crowley at one point says, "I am a demon. Maybe I'm lying." I can't find the post I have in mind, but I know there was one where the author remarked that was a signal for Aziraphale's POV since he talks like that in season 1. When Crowley says, "Would I lie to you?" Aziraphale says, "Well, obviously. You're a demon. That's what you do." That tracks...except of course if this memory is how Aziraphale got such notions into his head to begin with. No one ever said the game was fair.

But POV aside, I feel it worth pointing out that this logic works under the premise of "correlation equals causation." As in, the statement implies because Crowley is a demon, he is a liar. With the Rule of Three in Earthly Objects, this logic will repeat two more times during the episode. It will also show that extremely similar literal statements can have strongly different contextual meanings. Here, it means Crowley himself is suspect. Later, it means Crowley was manipulative to use Aziraphale to get him into the mansion and reach the kids. With the concluding scene of the minisode, it will mean a lie to oneself as a shield for admitting loneliness.

As I prefer to interpret the story, Crowley is not a liar because he is a demon. Crowley is a liar because he uses deception as a strategy, for his own side. That can be part of his job as a demon or part of coping with his own existence.

I have to do a lot of questioning for correlation and causation to play the games in the story itself.

In trying to examine how the spaces read Crowley, a few things came up in my notes that are worth mentioning here.

Fire is a relevant element to Crowley himself and occasionally the only visible light source within a scene. That's almost true of this one. Presumably, there is a sun out there somewhere to light the day, but it's never actually shown on screen. Aziraphale's halo—or whatever that thing is surrounding him—also acts as a temporary light source.

However, while the supernatural ball of fire is actively in place, it is shown to affect the lighting on Crowley himself, making his red hair look all the more red, for example.

General reminder, that the quote on the matchbox shown in episode 1 refers to "sparks of fire". I've mentioned I think a lot of things already suggest that link between that quote and Crowley. Fire is going to show up repeatedly.

Another thing that comes up is...hats. Or, in this case, a headband. This headband itself actually changes within the spaces too. Why hats? Why head gear that's not just his sunglasses? Do I have to start paying attention to other head accessories like earrings and regular eye glasses? I don't know. I haven't figured it out. What I have figured out is that at the end of The Door Trick, a symbol of fire can be found to Crowley's right, and a hat worn by a relevant passing human can be found to his left. He is "pocketed" between these two things that keep appearing in the spaces of the minisodes as if they have some meaning. A hat-wearing human was behind him for another crucial part in the preceding cut of Crowley facing the camera.

These are things I can also find in a number of places in season 1 once I know to look for them.

I have mentioned that I suspect Muriel's helmet helps them somehow in their part with The Bigger Thresholds Trick and being unable to fathom how I could ever figure that one out. It's still true.

If I progress further, I will update accordingly as time allows.

Yet another thing that comes up is...roofs. Roofs?!

Yeah, roofs. I was very perplexed at that.

This game is a mind trip, let me tell you. I wrote it out in my notes about my confusion for why the story wanted me to figure out something with the roofs. I know I've seen the roof of the elevator when Crowley and Muriel enter. I know Crowley touches the edge of the roof to his car in The Window Trick.

After reviewing The Door Trick and The Door Catch yet again, but not finding whatever mysterious roof thing I thought I should, I decided to look at the ending credits.

I am not joking that I wrote this in my notes:

"Why am I saving and watching the credits when the elevator roof is still lacking? What does my subconscious sense as relevant that I don't? Is that what's happening? So confused."

And do you know what happened?

Here is what I wrote:

"This game is such a mind trip.

Unbelievable.

My subconscious knew to check that Crowley raised his head enough to make a fucking self-pocket of hair that can be seen in line with the roof of his car when Aziraphale smiles before they are both blurred and disappear from the credits. WTF.

Crowley narrows his eyes when Aziraphale smiles.

That's what my subconscious wanted me to find because of the roof thing!!!"

I can't believe this game!!!

Here's my post about it before publishing this one: If no one ever told you...

Alas, while I have found the fire-and-hat pocket for the end of The Door Trick, I really don't understand why this story thinks those things are worth considering or what they mean. I just know I found a pattern that I suspect is intentional.

Anyway, time to move on...

Muriel

(For reference: Bookend Buddies - Crowley and Muriel (Part 2))

The scroll minisode scene acts as a front bookend to Muriel's one and only minisode scene in the season. Muriel is wearing a headband with some gold. It is not the exact same headband that Crowley wears, but the similarity is nonetheless noted.

I went ahead and made a composite picture to look at both of them their headbands:

The scroll looks very similar to the one Crowley held that disappeared in the preceding scene. Meaning, it's a same-or-similar earthly object they each touch even though they have no other form of interaction during the minisode.

Both Muriel and Aziraphale stand the entire time. Muriel has a desk much like what can be found in the present day scenes, but they have no chair as Michael does. The desk has folders on it too. These things remind of me of the present day form of Heaven since Muriel had a desk and folders there too.

For pockets, Muriel makes one with their hand and the scroll, some pockets between themself and the desk, and some pockets with their own hands.

Satan is brought up in the conversation but not the actual demons working for him. That is to say, Crowley is not named specifically in this conversation.

Muriel has no interaction with Gabriel. The two are not on screen together during the entirety of episode 2. Aziraphale talks to Gabriel and Michael when not with Muriel. When a number of angels show up at the end, Muriel and Uriel are not among them. Whereas both Crowley and Muriel touch the scroll, it is laid out on the floor when Gabriel is on screen, so he never physically touches it.

Crowley's scene is the front bookend to Muriel's scene. Gabriel's scene is the back bookend to Muriel's scene. Meanwhile, Aziraphale is a common thread between all three.

...

That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

...

Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme